Hand-held pumping device

ABSTRACT

A cordless battery powered, hand-held pump, for pumping out liquid, primarily bilge water from small boats, has a support shaft with a submersible pump/motor secured at one end of the shaft, and a handle at the other end of the shaft that is inclined at an angle from the shaft; the pump&#39;s liquid discharge connects with an outlet located near the handle, which is aligned with the handle and can connect with a garden hose; a removable, rechargeable battery pack is mounted in the end of the handle, and connects through a lockable switch to the motor. The pump can discharge 10 gallons a minute directly overboard.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable (N/A)

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING

N/A

COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

N/A

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. This invention is directed to a hand-held pumping device, and inparticular to a battery driven, dockside boat bailer, for bailing smallboats.

2. Most small boats are typically docked in the open, and are subject toaccumulating rainfall. Also, when beached, they frequently are exposedto wave-action, and again accumulate water. Owing to the nature of theirconstruction it can be difficult and time consuming to bail out suchaccumulations by hand.

Larger vessels are usually fitted with permanent bilge pumps, thatdischarge overboard. Many efforts have been devoted to this problem ofboat de-watering, from the hand-pump of Gearing (U.S. Pat. No. 161,775of April 1875) to the motor driven placement pump of Ridgeway (U.S. Pat.No. 4,050,396 of September 1977).

A parallel aspect of water displacement is found in domestic sump pumpsand the like, such as Zimmermann et al (U.S. Pat. No. 2,981,196 of April1961); Peters (U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,606 of April 1973) and Roberts et al(U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,544 of June 1974. The Roberts et al auxiliary sumppump is battery driven, apparently by an automotive-style lead/acidbattery. It is not unusual to equip such installations withfloat-controlled switches, to activate them automatically.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a light-weight, hand-held, portablecordless electric de-watering pump, having a comparatively high rate ofdischarge, suited for discharging water over the side of a small boat.

Thus, the present invention is distinguished over the prior art by wayof a battery-operated, rechargeable and completely portable,self-contained device.

The hand-held device has a substantially rigid shaft, with aself-contained, submersible pump/motor at its lower end, and a grippablehandle at its other end.

In a preferred embodiment, the discharge from the pump is directedupward into the shaft, from which it exits by way of a discharge portthat can be readily aimed so as to discharge over the side of the boat,when convenient. The three-foot discharge stream is adequate for directdewatering of small boats in most instances.

The shaft is about three feet in length, and is readily oriented, whilemaintaining the pump intake submerged, to effect discharge over the sideof most small boats.

The discharge port has a garden-hose fitting, so that a garden hose andthe like may be attached thereto, in the event that direct overboarddischarge is not suitable, such as in the case of a deeper hulledvessel, in which case the water can be more distantly discharged by wayof the hose, to a location better suited to water disposal.

It is contemplated that the pump discharge may be connected directly atthe pump per se to a short length of suitable hose, which hose isremovably clipped to the pump shaft, thus enabling the user to readilydirect the pump discharge in any desired direction, independent of theorientation of the pump handle.

The handle by which the dewatering pump is held houses a removable,rechargeable battery pack and a control switch, by which the motor isenergized. The control switch may be a trigger grip that underlies thehandle, and may include a locking button to lock the switch in anoperating or an inoperative condition.

The mass of the battery pack, located towards the rear of the handle,which is off-set from the axis of the pump shaft, serves as acounterweight to the pump/motor, thereby facilitating precisepositioning of the pump in relation to the structure of the hull of theboat.

The construction of the motor permits it to be immersed, while theadoption of battery power, with relatively low voltage (e.g. 12 to18-volts) substantially eliminates any likelihood of water-borneshort-circuits or its accompanying dangers.

In one embodiment, a pumping rate of 10-gallons per minute was obtained,while the standard 12-volt battery pack in its fully-charged conditiongives energy capacity to dewater several small boats at the 10 gallonsper minute rate. With an established capacity of forty minutes ofcontinuous pumping by way of a fully charged battery pack, it is evidentthat a number of small boats can be dewatered of an average watercontent on a single battery pack charge, while the recharging of abattery pack requires about the same amount of time, so that use of twobattery packs should make continuous dockside dewatering a feasible andpractical operation, at marinas and the like.

Owing to the simple construction, light weight, low cost and readydeployment of the subject bailer, its use is contemplated in a widerange of environments, including the retrieval of liquid spills, such asretrieving local small oil spills off bodies of water. By adoption of anexplosion-proof motor and switch, use of the device in handling fuelspills is made possible by the connection of a hose from the pump into asealed container. In many automobile accidents, the handling of spilledgasoline presents a dangerous problem for which the subject inventionmay prove to be part of a practical and satisfactory solution.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

Certain embodiments are described by way of illustration, withoutlimitation of the present invention thereto, other than as defined inthe following claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of a boat bailer inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a second embodiment of the bailer, deployed by auser;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view in transverse section of a small boat; and,

FIG. 4 is a side view of a third embodiment of a subject boat bailer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bailer device 10 in accordance with thepresent invention has a pump portion 12 surmounted by an electric motor14.

The pump 12 has a screened filter inlet 13, to exclude detritus thatotherwise might jam or otherwise block the pump or the associateddischarge flow passages.

The pump/motor 12/14 is mounted within a housing 16 at the end of ahollow shaft 18. The shaft 18 is surmounted by an off-set handle portion20. A battery pack 22, such as those used in power hand tools, is housewithin the handle portion 20.

The handle 20 includes a pivotally mounted switch trigger lever 26, andan associated locking button 28 to lock the lever 26 in an operating orin an inoperative condition.

The motor 14 is DC (direct current) low voltage, suited for batteryoperation. The output of pump 12 passes upwardly by way of interior hoseconnection 30 to a discharge housing 32. The discharge axis of thehousing 32 is substantially at right-angles to the shaft 18, and insubstantial coincidence with the plane of the handle portion 20. Thehousing 32 has an externally threaded hose connection for attachment ofa garden hose (not shown)

The battery pack 22 is removably secured within the end of the handleportion 20, enabling its ready removal for substitution of a sparebattery, and for re-charging. The handle portion 20 is inclined from theshaft 18, for convenience of use in positioning the pump 12, as shown inFIG. 2. This off-set also provides a moment arm for the mass of thebattery pack 22, pivoting about the point of suspension of the user'shand, to at least partially compensate for, and counterbalance the massof the pump/motor 12/14, during its initial placement into the waterthat is to be drained. This facilitates precise positioning of the pumpinlet 13 into sump and other drainage spaces that may have the access tothem restricted.

The alignment of the discharge housing 32 in the plane of the handle 20promotes accurate aiming of the discharge jet from the bailer 10.

FIG. 3 simply illustrates the type of open-hulled small boat in whichthe subject bailer 10 is of particular use, with the facility todischarge directly overboard. Referring to FIG. 4, this illustrates thesuitability of the subject bailer for manufacture from locally availablecomponent parts. Thus, a bailer 40 may have a shaft 48 of plastic, suchas ¾ inch polyvinylchloride (PVC) tube, surmounted by a tee-piece 42,with a bottom (female/male) elbow 44. A combined pump/motor 50 has itsoutput nozzle 52 secured by way of sleeve 54 to the elbow 44.

The bailer discharge outlet 56 may consist of a ¾-inch pipe secured tothe T of tee-piece 42. Above the tee-piece 42, the interior of the shaft48 is sealed off with a plug. A handle 58 is clamped at 59 to the shaft48, the handle 58 having an on/off switch trigger 60, with a lock-offbutton 62. A battery pack 22 is removably secured within the handle 56.The electrical output from the battery pack 22, when the trigger 60 isactuated, passes by way of externally located conductors protectedwithin a vinyl tube 64, to the pump/motor 50.

1. An electrically powered, light-weight hand-held pump, for pumpingliquid from one location to another, said pump having a support shaft; acombined pump/motor secured to the distal end of said shaft, a handleinclined from said shaft and located at the proximal end of the shaft;liquid discharge means connected with said pump/motor, in use to receiveliquid output therefrom, said liquid discharge means having an outletlocated between said distal and said proximal ends; battery means topower said motor, and switch means mounted on said handle in controllingrelation with said motor means, said handle being inorientation-controlling relation with said support shaft, in use tocontrol the direction of liquid discharge by said liquid dischargemeans.
 2. The pump as set forth in claim 1, said pump having an inlet,the polar axis thereof being substantially parallel with the polar axisof said shaft.
 3. The pump as set forth in claim 2, said polar axis ofsaid pump being in substantial alignment with the polar axis of saidshaft.
 4. The pump as set forth in claim 2, said polar axis of said pumpbeing substantially coplanar with said handle.
 5. The pump as set forthin claim 1, said liquid discharge means being located primarily withinsaid supporting shaft.
 6. The pump as set forth in claim 1, said batterymeans being removable and rechargeable.
 7. The pump as set forth inclaim 6, said battery means being located within said handle in off-setrelation from the polar axis of said shaft, in use to provide acounterweight to the mass of said pump/motor, to facilitate the accuratepositioning of said pump/motor in a desired location.
 8. The pump as setforth in claim 1, including filter means to filter liquid passing intosaid pump.
 9. An electrically powered, light-weight hand-held pumpingdevice, for pumping liquid from one location to another, said pumpingdevice having a support shaft; a combined pump/motor secured to one endof said shaft, a handle located at the other end of the shaft; liquiddischarge means connected with said pump/motor, in use to receive liquidoutput therefrom, said liquid discharge means having a directionallycontrollable outlet; battery means mounted on said device to power saidmotor, and switch means mounted on said handle in controlling relationwith said motor means, said handle being in position-controllingrelation with said pump/motor, in use to control the location of saidpump/motor in relation to said liquid.
 10. The pump as set forth inclaim 9, said battery means being located within said handle in off-setrelation from the polar axis of said shaft, in use to provide acounterweight to the mass of said pump/motor, to facilitate the accuratepositioning of said pump/motor in a desired location.